Teams Pull Out Of Galaxy Battles II After Valve ‘Rescinds’ Major Status

Posted 9th January 2018 By: Kyle-Tipify Staff

Five out of 16 teams have officially withdrawn from competing in the coming Galaxy Battles II: Emerging Worlds tournament in Manila, Philippines after Valve revoked its major tournament status. However, this also forgoes Valve’s sponsorship of covering the $500,000 prize pool along with the Pro Circuit Points to qualify for the International 8 this year.

According to Valve’s released official statement, they felt that the “unreasonable infringements on the privacy of the players, as a condition to enter the country” was the reason behind the decision to remove the Major status of the tournament.

Although it was not clear which specific regulation in the Philippines caused the issue, the Philippines’ Games and Amusement Board (GAB) require athletes to obtain a license from the board to be able to participate in local competitions. Since the regulatory board considers esports professionals as athletes, the same license requirement also goes for the players. In this case, it seems as though that GAB required the invited foreign players to procure licenses which involves drug testing, forms, reports and tests, organization sponsorship, photo ID’s, and fees as mandatory requirements to be able to compete in the country.

Teams withdraw from the tournament

Pro Circuit Points leader Virtus.pro was one of the first teams to officially withdraw from the event, while Team Secret, Team Liquid, OpTic Gaming, and Newbee followed suit. As of this writing, these are the only teams that formally withdrew from the tournament.

Furthermore, Valve allowed Galaxy Battles II to continue, but Valve will no longer be involved. In which, Valve claims that they are working with Fallout Gaming—the tournament organizer—to organize another similar Major event, with the same invited and qualified teams, along with the prize pool and Pro Circuit Points rewards that were supposedly for Galaxy Battles II.

Galaxy Battles II Will Continue

Finally, the tournament will still proceed according to Galaxy Battles Management. “We at the Galaxy Battles Management respect the decision made by the Valve Corporation, rest assured, the event will go on as scheduled.”

Placing wagers on the tournament

With the top teams pulling out of the event, there is still no word on who will replace the vacant team slots of Galaxy Battles II. So for now, hold your bets on the tournament until more word comes out. If you’re itching to bet on the event, you can carry on placing predictions on Tipify, which gives you a chance to win top prizes through the New Tipster Tournament.